Words
by Gemmika
Summary: Kristoff has come to the realization that he is in love with a certain red-haired princess... but every time he tries to tell her he gets tongue tied and self-conscious.


A/N: Hello everyone! This is my second fic but definitely not the last. I have tons of ideas up my sleeves, so keep watch for them, okay? This one did give me a lot of problems, though, so be kind. I hope I ended up doing this idea justice.

Disclaimer: Nope... still don't own Frozen. But, a girl can dream!

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Kristoff stared at the blank page of parchment on the small writing desk in front of him, his heart racing frantically in his chest. Why had he thought that this was a good idea? They had only known each other for a few short months, it was too early to tell her what was in his heart, wasn't it? If so, why did his heart race every time he was around her? Why did he find himself smiling for no reason other than he was near her? Why did he move into the castle at her request last month when he had been perfectly fine in the stables with Sven? The only explanation was love. He loved her.

Sure, he had suspected it after the events of The Great Thaw when he had struggled with nightmares about Anna being encased in ice again. He had even suspected it when he had raced back to Arendelle to save her life and failed. It was different suspecting it and realizing that it was true. When it was just a suspicion, he didn't have to act on it. Now that he knew, he couldn't stop thinking about how he was supposed to tell her. How did one tell a princess something like that? For him, the only way it could be done was in a letter. That way, if she didn't reciprocate his feelings, he didn't have to look in her eyes when she let him down. Hence, the blank piece of parchment.

He scratched his head, wondering where he should start. He supposed that addressing the letter to Anna was probably his best bet, so he grabbed his quill, dipped it in the inkwell and scribbled : _Dear Anna, _on the page. Yeah, that looked good. What next? He couldn't just write "I love you" and send it off, could he? She would think he was an idiot. He kind of felt like an idiot. So, he should ease himself into it. It couldn't be that difficult, right?

_Dear Anna,_

_I know that it's strange to send you a letter when I'm sleeping only a few doors away, but as I'm sure you've noticed, I tend to get nervous when I try to talk to you. Well, not all the time of course, only when I'm saying something important, which is what I'm trying to do now. I know, I know, you'll say that I should just spit it out, but I can't seem to do that. I've tried to tell you this so many times, in so many different ways but I can never seem to just say it. I always get distracted by your eyes, your smile, your laugh… Even now when I'm not looking into your big blue eyes, I'm still hesitant to just say the words that I've felt from the very start. _

His quill hung over the page, paralyzed. Why couldn't he just write it? It was only three words, eight letters for goodness sake! What was so hard about scribbling them down? Honestly… he knew that once they left his pen, once they were out into the world, things would change. How could they not? Once Anna read them she only had two options. She could tell him that she felt the same way, that she loved him back just as fiercely and passionately as he loved her… or she could tell him that she didn't look at him that way and it would break him. So, yeah, it was hard. It was the hardest thing he had ever done in his life.

He clenched his teeth and put the quill back on the page. It was confess his love, or always wonder... and he wasn't a coward.

_Look, I know that I'm a nobody, I get that. I'm just an ice harvester and the only thing I have to give to you is my heart. It's a heart so full of love that no one will ever feel about you as strongly as I do. I know that admitting this puts you in a difficult place, but I can't keep it in anymore. I love you, Anna. I think I always will. When you barged into my life and demanded my help, you changed my life forever. I can't ever go back to the person that I was before you and I'm no longer willing to try. I love you… I love you._

He let out a breath that he hadn't even noticed he had been holding and rubbed a hand over his heart. He hadn't expected it to ache so badly once he had finally written down the words that had been struggling to get out. Wasn't he supposed to feel lighter, like a weight had been lifted from him? He didn't feel that way, he actually felt kind of sick. He supposed it was because he didn't know how she would react. He knew she cared for him, that much was obvious. He just didn't know if she cared enough to risk her reputation on a man who had never even slept in a real bed before coming into the castle. It was asking a lot of her. Maybe too much. He had to trust his gut, though. He had to trust that Anna felt the same way he did. What he had written in the letter was true, no one would ever love her the way he did. That was something he could give her in abundance. He just had to take that first step.

Without thinking too hard about what he was doing, Kristoff signed his name hastily to the bottom of the page and stuffed the letter in an envelope. He was afraid that if he thought about it for too long, he would lose his nerve and get rid of the letter, so he forced himself to stand and walk out of his room, down to Anna's, and stuff the letter underneath her door. He was then out of the castle before the sun had even risen in the sky. He needed to be out of the way when she found it and read it, otherwise he might just snatch it from her grasp and toss it into the fjord.

With a sigh, he headed down to the stables to find Sven. Perhaps the two of them could head into the mountains for awhile. Anything that got him away from the castle for the day.

By the time that Kristoff made it back to the castle it was nearing nightfall. He had purposefully spent the entire day away from anywhere in particular. It was the only way he had managed to keep himself from panicking at what he had done that morning. Unfortunately, when the sun began to set, he realized that he was being a coward. He couldn't just ignore Anna for the rest of his life. He was going to have to find out what her feelings were, even if it destroyed him completely.

When he walked into the castle, he found himself heading straight to Anna's room and knocking on the door. He knew that she was possibly at dinner already, but he hoped they could talk in private first. This wasn't exactly a conversation that he wanted Elsa to overhear. Thankfully, he heard Anna stirring in her room as she made her way to her bedroom door.

"Kristoff," she whispered breathlessly after she had flung the door open. "I've been looking everywhere for you today. Where were you?"

"Did you read my letter?" he asked gruffly, feeling eager to just get it over with.

Anna nodded and her teeth came down to bite her lower lip. She looked out in the hallway and then surprised him by grabbing his hand and yanking him into her room. He heard the door close and turned to see her lean against it, her shoulders sagging a bit, as if the events of the day had left her physically exhausted.

His heart clenched in his chest and he forced himself to take a deep breath. This was Anna, she would never hurt him unless she had any other option. She was too giving, too loving. If she thought that what she was about to say might upset him, she would be gentle and patient. He wasn't sure how he would handle that rejection, not from Anna. He suddenly realized that he couldn't hear her say the words, so he let out his breath and spoke first.

"Just give me some time to pack up my things," he finally got out. He was speaking quickly, trying to get the pain with over as fast as he could. He figured he could be out of the castle in as little as five minutes. He didn't really have that many things to pack.

Her eyes shot up to his, confusion and hurt clouding the soft aqua color. "What? Why would you do that?"

He sighed and ran a hand through his thick, shaggy hair. "I don't want to impose on your hospitality anymore. It has to be uncomfortable for you, especially after reading my letter," he explained. He would have thought she would understand. He couldn't be so close to her everyday knowing that he wasn't good enough for her, no matter how he felt… no, because of how he felt. It just made sense, didn't it?

"So… you didn't mean what you wrote?" she asked. Her hand went to one of her braids and she tugged on it, her eyes falling to the floor rather than look at him.

"Of course I meant what I wrote in the letter!" he exclaimed, throwing his hands up in the air in his exasperation. "It's why I have to go."

"What kind of sense does that make?" she demanded and crossed her arms over her chest. The look she was giving him reminded him of the looks Bulda had given him when he was growing up and had done something idiotic.

"I can't be around you when I know that you don't… well, when you don't feel the same way about me. It's too painful," he admitted, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand.

She surprised him then by throwing her arms around his neck and plastering herself against him. His eyes flew open when he realized that she was kissing him, and with quite a bit of passion too. His hands instinctively moved to hold her tightly to his chest, one hand cupping the back of her neck so he could deepen the kiss.

All thoughts of leaving fled the moment she touched him. She couldn't kiss him this way if she didn't love him. He could feel her heart beating, almost a flutter, against his chest as she held him tight. There was something in the way that she clung to him that said more than words ever could. He held her tighter, his lips moving hungrily over hers. He had so much love in him to give, and it was all for her.

When she finally pulled back she leaned her forehead against his cheek, her eyes closed and a smile on her face. "Will you say it for me? Please?"

"Say what?" he asked, struggling to catch his breath (and refocus his attention) after such a passionate embrace. All he could think about was the girl wrapped in his arms, the girl he loved more than reason or sanity. She obviously wasn't turning him away and that meant more to him than anything.

"You know," she said softly and poked him in the stomach, "what you wrote in the letter. I want to hear you say it."

Oh. Right.

He took a deep breath and then let it out. It would be the first time he had ever said it to anyone. He didn't think she understood how momentous it was for him to have _written_ it. He wasn't sure he could say it without stuttering, but he would try. "Anna," he whispered, stroking the side of her face with his thumb and staring into her wide blue eyes. "I… I love you."

Tears gathered in her eyes and fell in soft rivers down her cheeks. She reached up to rub them away and tried to laugh it off. "Sorry, I've just been craving those words my whole life. To hear them from you… the person I wanted to hear them from most, well, it's better than I thought it would be," she admitted.

He knew how strong words were, didn't he? Wasn't that the reason he had struggled so hard to say them himself? Was it wrong of him to want to hear them from her as well? Would it be selfish to ask? "Anna…" he began, but she put her fingers to his lips to silence him.

"I love you, Kristoff," she whispered, her voice thick with even more tears. "I love you more than I ever dreamed was possible."

He drew in a deep, shuddering breath, surprised at how badly he had needed to hear her say it. Could things have gotten any better when she stumbled into his life? He somehow doubted it. With her in his arms, knowing that she loved him, his life was perfect.

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A/N: Yeah, I wanted to put in a line at the end about how Anna felt Kristoff was wrong when he called himself a nobody, but I couldn't get it to fit without feeling weird. Anyway, we all know she feels like he is important, right? 


End file.
